Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey is a leading advocate of government transparency … well, at least she says she is.
Recent actions, however, suggest Healey’s gone off the rails.
A “progressive” Democrat, Healey seems intent on out-Warrening Elizabeth Warren when it comes to attacking people and corporations first (Donald Trump, most of his Cabinet picks, Wall Street) and asking questions later.
Healey hasn’t yet reached the level of the Bay State’s senior U.S. senator for Democrat elitism in this regard, but she’s moving up the ladder.
First, Healey supported a Boston Herald public-records request for disclosure of a secret MBTA consultant’s report on family leave, then later reversed her stance. According to Healey’s office, the AG based her decision on the MBTA’s “attorney-client privilege.” Previously, the Secretary of State’s Office called the exemption a lot of bunk. The Herald later learned that Healey’s office never even read the report in making its ruling.
Second, and equally jarring, is Healey’s ongoing two-state battle with Texas oil and gas giant ExxonMobil. Healey wants the $171 billion company to turn over 40 years of internal documents on its climate-change research. She’s implying that ExxonMobil knew that its fossil-fuel products hurt the environment and, in turn, engaged in deceptive business practices by keeping the information from Massachusetts investors and customers.
To date, Healey hasn’t disclosed any evidence or justification for her line of reasoning.
The company says Healey’s on a “political witch hunt,” along with another grandstanding AG, New York’s Eric Schneiderman. The other 48 state attorneys general have declined to join the ExxonMobil pursuit.
Healey’s now locked in a two-state fight — Texas and Massachusetts — to both (1) obtain the records; and (2) shutdown ExxonMobil’s countersuit to get Healey to show cause for her requests in a federal court in Texas, where the company is based. A judge has summoned Healey to appear on Tuesday.
Healey’s effort to block the Texas summons has spilled over to a Massachusetts Superior Court. She’s arguing the Texas federal court has no jurisdiction over her request.
This two-state battlefront, meanwhile, is getting expensive for Massachusetts taxpayers, who remain in the dark as to why Healey thinks these records are so vital. A Texas attorney hired to represent Healey there has already racked up a $44,000 bill. And lawyers from Healey’s own office are burning time and state funds doing the same here.
If Healey’s so confident in pursuing ExxonMobil, why is she so determined to block a federal judge’s request to answer his questions?
All we know is that ExxonMobil’s been a leading innovator in the fossil-fuel industry for decades. Americans by the millions have invested in the company’s stock for its consistent and positive returns. The stock’s price is up 23 percent over the past 52 weeks and 32 percent going back five years.
So who in Massachusetts has been damaged by ExxonMobil’s internal research? Has someone died at the gas pumps breathing in vapors?
Maura Healey may have something up her sleeve, but in our view it’s more political than purposeful.
